This Ambitious Whittie Takes on Athletic, Environmental & Philosophical Challenges

Whether he’s running in the outskirts of Walla Walla, advocating for endangered ecosystems or contemplating the ethics of conservation, Jack McManus ’27 is a strider.

The junior Garrett-Sherwood Scholar from McCall, Idaho, maintains a packed schedule, double majoring in Biology and Philosophy on top of his responsibilities as a team captain on Whitman College’s cross country and distance track teams.

With a passion for ecology, a drive for academic and athletic success, and a gift for leadership, McManus is a difference maker on and off campus.

A Natural Born Leader

McManus grew up fishing in the mountains with his father and grandfather. He discovered his love of fly fishing as a teenager and formed a special connection with the natural world.

In high school, he worked with the U.S. Forest Service, clearing trails, doing bighorn sheep surveys and helping maintain the wilderness he loves. His favorite tasks, though, involved fisheries research, collecting data on spawning habitats and environmental sensitivity.

“Fish can exhibit really interesting displays of evolution as rivers change and isolate or reconnect populations,” McManus says.

Before college, McManus also raised money to fight the expansion of a gold mine at the headwaters of a critical habitat for bull trout, steelhead and chinook salmon. His nonprofit work helped earn him the Garrett-Sherwood Scholarship at Whitman—and led him toward one of his two majors: Biology.

At Whitman, he has continued his fish advocacy work in the Salmon Conservation Club, which aims to educate Whitman students on issues relating to salmon and orca conservation while also providing opportunities for related activism.

Deep Thoughts, Real Challenges

McManus also makes the most of his time in Philosophy classes—his second major—taking special care to consider its connections to conservation. He is interested in the ways his areas of study intersect and how varied ways of thinking can support a well-rounded approach to science research.

For instance, he spent the summer of 2024 separating native bull trout from invasive brook trout in the headwaters of Crooked River in western Idaho. He and his co-workers culled close to 10,000 brook trout in an attempt to protect the fragile ecosystem that the invasive trout were disturbing.

“In the Environmental Ethics class I took last spring, we actually did some investigation of ethical frameworks and how they would apply to that issue,” he says. “It’s really hard to determine the value of [invasive] fish versus the value of preserving the bull trout from extinction in that environment.”

The thinking he’s doing at Whitman, McManus says, has helped him balance his intuition with more logical ways of thinking, opening his understanding of broader perspectives. Like a true philosopher, he says, “I enjoyed working through those struggles.”

Hitting His Stride

Before committing to Whitman, McManus visited campus several times, including an official team visit with the distance track and cross country team, where he got to run with the Blues.

“I just really enjoyed the team and the places we got to run,” he says.

While he’d already been drawn to Whitman based on the academic, extracurricular and networking opportunities unique to the school, his interactions with the runners and coaches sealed the deal.

Now, McManus speaks fondly about the hours spent running and chatting with his teammates. “We have a really incredible team of runners this year, and we support each other.”

That support extends beyond the running trail, he explains. “At the Undergraduate Conference, we had nine or 10 people from the team presenting. So the whole team moved around campus, going to each one of those presentations.”

The tight-knit atmosphere has paid off for McManus and his teammates. The men’s distance track team finished third in the Northwest Conference (NWC) last fall. McManus broke the school’s record in the 10K this spring at the Mangrum Invitational in San Diego. And at the spring NWC finals, many of the Blues placed close together—and in the top 20—running as a team. One of those top 20 finishers was McManus, who placed 14th in the 5K and seventh in the 10K, his main event.

He credits the team’s recently graduated student leaders for creating such a positive atmosphere, saying, “We’ve succeeded so much, and I think so much of that is because of the work they’ve put in to make sure that everyone on the team is really engaged and loves each other.”

What’s Downstream?

With the help of the Whitman Internship Grant (WIG), McManus secured a 2025 summer internship with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries at their field office in Juneau, Alaska.

He planned to work with the genetics department, which has spent the last few years determining the genetic component that diversifies early- and late-run pink salmon. He spent the long Alaskan summer days doing widespread sampling of different creeks to determine additional factors that could affect their research.

“They’re doing some really cutting-edge stuff,” McManus explains. “They’re really at the top of their field.”

He hopes to use the internship as a jumping off point for future research along the same lines, and is leaving open the possibility of using his time in Alaska as groundwork for his thesis.

As the only worker in the lab without a graduate degree, McManus is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside experts at the top of their field. “I really appreciate the WIG for creating the opportunity to market myself as ‘free labor’ for them.”

As for what comes after Whitman? The water is still a bit murky. “Graduate school is on the table,” he says, but he’s leaving the doors open to other possibilities in the meantime.

With hard work and determination, McManus has found the space to thrive at Whitman.

“It’s a hard balance sometimes,” he says with a smile, “but it works out in the end.”